AUGUSTA, Maine — If Gov. Paul LePage ultimately calls lawmakers back to the State House this fall for a special legislative session, it will be to deal with the more than $150 million the state owes its hospitals, a Maine Hospital Association official confirmed Friday afternoon.
Steven Michaud, the association’s president, said Maine Hospital Association officials have discussed a number of concepts with LePage’s office related to the state paying back hospitals for services they provided to patients under the Medicaid program, but for which they haven’t been paid. Michaud said the discussions about a special session had to do with addressing that debt.
“I do know that the whole issue of paying the hospital debt was behind this whole thing,” he said. “How they’re going to do all of that and what proposals they have to do it, I’ve never seen anything.”
Maine’s hospitals are owed about $460 million for treating patients under the state’s Medicaid program, which provides insurance to low-income residents. To repay the debt, Michaud said, the state would have to come up with about a third of the money — about $153 million — and the federal government would kick in the rest.
“What they’ve done for years,” Michaud said, “they can’t afford the program. They’ve got too many people on the program so they just cap it in terms of what they pay us. We’ve got patients from five years ago we’re waiting to be paid for.”
Whether a special legislative session will take place and, by extension, when LePage’s proposal to repay the state’s hospitals will be taken up are still far from certain.
House Democratic leader Emily Cain said Friday morning that LePage told her during a phone call that he was no longer planning a special legislative session this fall in advance of November’s elections.
But LePage spokeswoman Adrienne Bennett insisted the governor hasn’t ruled out the possibility of a special session and that he’s “keeping all options on the table.”
The divergent interpretations of the phone call between Cain and LePage capped off the second day of speculation around the State House about LePage’s plans after he told a gathering of Bangor-area Republicans Wednesday night that he’s considering a special session of the Legislature this fall to propose an initiative that he promised would “push the envelope” and further polarize Democrats against him.
Cain indicated in an email to reporters Friday morning that the governor told her he planned to wait until January, when a newly elected Legislature is in session, to propose legislation.
But Bennett said the governor still might call for a special legislative session this fall. She said the governor is consulting with the state Attorney General’s office to determine whether the proposal is legal.
“There are multiple options,” she said. “Every one of them is being taken into consideration at this point.”
A spokeswoman for the Attorney General didn’t return calls seeking comment Friday to confirm whether conversations were taking place with the governor.
Michaud, of the Maine Hospital Association, said he hasn’t been privy to discussions about how LePage planned to secure the money necessary to repay the hospitals.
But WABI-TV 5 reported late Friday morning that LePage was weighing a measure that would allow money from the state’s liquor distribution contract to be used to pay down the state’s debt to hospitals.
Citing anonymous State House sources, WABI reported that LePage also wants to drop a provision in state law that requires hospitals to obtain state approval, known as certificates of need, before taking on certain expansion projects.
LePage has said repeatedly since his run for governor in 2010 that it’s one of his priorities to pay back money owed to the state’s hospitals for services provided under the federal Medicaid program. One of the governor’s first budgets proposed $70 million to pay down the debt to hospitals, which leveraged about $180 million in matching federal funds.
In recent years, lawmakers and gubernatorial candidates have started looking to the state’s current liquor contract, which designates Maine Beverage Co. as the wholesale supplier of agency liquor stores, as a source for new revenues. The current contract is set to expire in 2014, and negotiations are under way on a new contract.
The current state budget requires the state to renegotiate the liquor contract by June 2013 in order to secure revenue for transportation and drinking water programs as well as state reserves.
Maine Beverage Co.’s president was out of the office Friday afternoon and not reachable for comment.
The state took in $125 million up front to balance the budget when it secured the current liquor distribution contract in 2004. Since that contract was signed, however, some in the Legislature have questioned whether the state forfeited significant potential revenues under the arrangement.
As the news slipped out Friday about LePage’s plans for a special session, his office continued not to disclose much.
Article V of the Maine Constitution allows a governor to call a special legislative session “on extraordinary occasions.” Bennett said the governor’s proposal “is something that we feel would warrant a special session and would adhere to the statute.”
Somehow, I don’t think this is it.
it surely wouldn’t be the controversy he promised, now would it? UNLESS its how he would come up with the funding that would get people riled up
and there you have it…. something is getting dismantled.
As I have speculated, I think that LePage is going to find a way to reduce wages and/or benefits to State employees. They are currently working without a contract. Other states with Tea Party governors have attacked their states employees.
I initially thought that LePage would use this money to fund the maintenance of effort (MOE) required by the Affordable Care Act to keep the 27,000 that he wants to cut from MaineCare; there is almost no chance that the Fed is going to grant the waiver the LePage administration seeks.
While this now may be about paying back the hospitals, if you think about it, there is no emergency with that. What’s another five or six months – it should be dealt with by the 126th Legislature.
But now my thinking has changed: most observers think that it’s likely that the Democrats will take over the Maine House, and perhaps even the Senate. This means, of course, an end to any more Tea Party initiatives. So LePage and other Republican leaders realize they have one last chance to jam something through.
And I’m reminded that pharmaceutical companies donated more than $750,000 to LePage’s 2010 gubernatorial campaign.
Donors of that kind of money usually expect something in return. The Maine Rx program costs Big Pharma millions of dollars; read why the conservative Heritage Foundation thinks Maine Rx is a bad idea.
Are you supporting Dill, a fellow Democrat, for Senate?
Why should I feel compelled to respond to someone who is not willing to comment using their actual name?
Oh is that it. Deflection… You think of yourself as a big name Democrat, why aren’t you supporting your party?
Ummm you started this thread by responding to a person not willing to use their real name.
What’s going to be really interesting is when ACA finally becomes fully enacted and the drug companies have their co-pay scam’s exposed. I went to the Doctor recently and needed some anti biotics for a nasty case of pneumonia. The Doctor’s office had them for $ 38.– under my BC/BS card. I go to Wally World’s pharmacy, same card and I get generic of the same antibiotic for 41 CENT’S ! Paulie wants to go screw with health care, fine. He’s just raising the anty come next General Election here in Maine. And every Senior citizen that suffer’s ’cause of Paulie’s fanatical hate of the one thing that is going to literally save lives every day is gonna be one more voter who’s going to be reminded of just who put their lives in jepoardy just to make a good impression on his campaign contributor’s every time he gets on TV or in the paper’s. Memory, it can be a pesky issue, can’t it ?
ACA!
It’s GRrrrreat!
I just got check from my Insurer for three hundred Dollars because they over charged me!
4 years ago that would have been part of the CEO’s Bonus!
That’s awesome, but you are going to have to send $10 of that $300 to Kellogg for copyright infringement. Lol.
I’m sure they are living in tar paper shanty’s and eating Ramen Noodles.
I suspect that fearing he’s going to lose his GOP majority in the legislature, LePage is going to try to pull something along the lines of voter suppression at the last minute hoping that the opposition won’t have time to put a stop to it. Anything like that, however, would require a 2/3 majority to take effect and he doesn’t have the votes unless he pulls some nonsense about getting a majority vote on a measure allowing it to be passed and implemented with a simple majority.
Lots of people “work without a contract”. In fact about 88.1% of us. It’s no big deal.
It is a big deal when you don’t get paid and the other guy says, “Too bad. You don’t have a contract.”
Are you not getting paid? Are you enslaved?
Everyone works with a contract, at least a verbal understanding of what’s expected and what the recompense is. I hire 3 people and, yes, they know what I expect and I know what they expect. It IS a big deal.
Do you have a written legal agreement? No? A verbal agreement is not a contract. You can call an employee in tomorrow explain that things aren’t going so well so a layoff. You made my point.
Again 88.1% of the population works without a union contract. Maybe a couple of % with a personal contract… thats it.
Obviously you do not understand business law. A verbal contract is, in fact, a contract.
You have changed your original post to ” 88.1% of the population works without a UNION contract.” Your original post said nothing about ‘union’.
Why are you anti verbal constract? What are you anti union? Why are you protecting wealthy interests? Why not stand up for the common man?
Next time you lay someone off and they challenge that let me know how it works out.
“Cheescake”…all fat and sweet, no substance.
Hardly sweet…. Lots of people exist without union contracts… I still say its no big deal.
Union contracts are not the only type or work contract. I worked for a company that had me sign a contract each year stating compensation, responsibilities, etc and I was not in a union.
I understand that. I mentioned personal contracts above. I stand by my statement above, most people go through life without a union contract. It is no big deal.
Paul will fix it. The liberals kick problems down roads. The conservatives actually try to solve them.
Except when it comes to the environment and fossil fuels.
There’s no problems there to fix, just opportunities for prosperity!
Environment and fossil fuels where the libs give us windmills and unicorn farts and expect that by making energy expensive they can depopulate Maine.
H aha! Talk about kicking the can down the road! Your comment is more proof that conservatives are not conservative. What do you propose we do for our energy “needs” in 50 years? In 100?
Better start building some nuke plants fast because wind is less than a popcorn fart.
Too bad nuclear waste must be safeguarded for a period of time several times longer then the entire existence of civilization so far. It’s fascinating how people who don’t trust the government to cut checks for health care trust it to accomplish this.
With Angus involved, it smells just as bad too.
1.Every Megawatt that is produced by wind today is a Megawatt of Fossil Fuel energy saved for tommorrow!
2. You cant store wind energy you have to use it when she blows! Although infinate over time it can only be used in the moment!
3. Fossil Fuels in it’s current place , in the ground, is like a Giant Reserve Tank for the Worlds Energy!
It’s “fuelish” to burn up every drop of fossil fuel before converting to alternatives or be stuck with ( As you say) that pocorn fart as your (Only) source!
Besides using infinate wind energy to strecth out finate fossil fuel also spreads emissions out more gradually into the ecosystem, allowing for it to be more evenly absorbed!
Wind as a supplement energy source is a no brainer! It is only logical.
You’d fart if they put the waste in your backyard.
If not for the rabid enviro nuts we could be using clean, reliable, cheap hydro power for the next 200 years. It would be like giving every Maine household a tax free check for $40 every month. Not to mention what it would mean for business.
I agree I have seen my electric bill rise to rates that are unaffordable. I have tried to do with looking at everything including delivery service providers to lower my bill and it has been unsuccessful. I live in an area with a provider that was known for lowest electric rates in Maine not anymore they have the same providers as CMP. We have been Democrats like Dennis Bailey, Kurt Adams, Angus King, John Richardson , Rep Hinck and his lobbyist wife Juliet Browne on this wind power scam. This scam was supposed to be our savior it has not it has been the biggest lie on the economy ever. It is the main reason why we are paying these bills. Their has been talk about bringing back Hydro Power, Clean Coal, Natural Gas power stations in Central Maine, Nuclear Power with also getting cheap power from Hydro Quebec. We need to bring back all options and fight these greenies that think wind is our only option. Because if not we will never see a return to real electric rates and no business growth.
There is no such item as “clean coal.”
Go to Europe. They quit the coal bin years ago in favor of gas and electricity. Black buildings and black lung convinced them. Even scrubbed buildings still carry the stench.
China is coming on line with new two power plants per week. The bulk of these are coal fired. They call them clean… IDK do you?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6769743.stm
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/11/world/asia/11coal.html
No. Unless they’re using smokeless coal.
A family member just returned from China. Saw brown sky… She didn’t know if the plant she saw in the distance had the new “scrubbers” or not.
I’d like to see a demonstration.
http://fossil.energy.gov/programs/powersystems/cleancoal/
and yet another ignoramus….
http://fossil.energy.gov/programs/powersystems/cleancoal/
Europe’s ‘coal bin’ and ‘gas can’ were emptied during WWII, and never fully refueled. Natural gas now dominates; the ‘coal bin’ is filled with wood pellets made in Maine and Canada; while 99% of Norway’s electricity is generated by hydro! Finland still has a lot of wood powered cars and trucks.
Do try and keep up, and get some current literature…your book shelf is moldy!
Clean coal? Would you care to enlighten us all about that fantasy?
Dispel your ignorance….
http://fossil.energy.gov/programs/powersystems/cleancoal/
hint…we’re selling China ‘clean coal’ technology.
extra hint….strip mines reclaim land and reforest it; while the footprint for wind farms and transmission lines must be kept cleared. A reforested strip mine provides more CO2 uptake than a a wind farm with only brush.
I guess you’ve never thought this through?
What about republicans who stifled and condemned the major proposal of FDR to build the Passamaquoddy Tidal Power Dam? What about their pals up north who condemned the Dickey-Lincoln Dam, assisted by the Canadians?
How can you sleep nights with all of these Democrats and Liberals tormenting your mind?
Do republicans make mistakes? Forget the tea party.
The “rabid enviro nuts” with FDR at the helm would have had Quoddy Tidal Power in 1932, has it not have been for the republican-Canadian enviro nuts. The latter’s major concern was losing some of the green from their private generation of power.
The “enviro Canucks nuts” helped quash it in fear of losing their herring. Then they built a Nuke plant near our border, and a massive Mactaquack Dam across the Saint John River.
It’s a two-edged sword.
According to historical documents the primary opponents who ‘killed’ Congressional funding were Democrats and both CMP and Bangor Hydro—The depression made private funding dependent on energy sales and not only was the Passamoquoddy far from Boston but congressional funding didn’t include transmission lines.
Excepts from one history:
“Among the opponents were Central Maine Power Co., Bangor Hydro-Electric and other power generating firms in Maine that feared the federally funded project would generate electricity at a lower cost than they could, thereby hurting their businesses.
Republican Governor Ralph Owen Brewster agreed to support the project if he was guaranteed some Democratic support and credit, something Roosevelt-loyal Democrats did not want to do.
They don’t care! Use it now and let the next generation suffer the consequences. They think every man for himself. That kind of society can’t survive.
The republicans lost their conservatism years ago. The party has been split into a narrow minded gold toothed consortium under the control of the Koch brothers.
While fossil fuels run out and energy goes up anyways what then? We know they are going to run out, there is no doubt but what are we trying to do about it? Nothing.
No we don’t that at all. in fact we know quite the opposite. Peak oil theory is hinged on what is financially viable and politically viable in past decades. Technology has changed new discoveries are being made. Israel for instance has more reserves than Saudi Arabia.
Nope! Proven oil reserves set Saudi Arabia standing at #2 with 269,800,000,000 barrels and Israel standing at #94 with only 1,940,000. Not to worry Cheese, by now we all kinda expect your data to be a mite bit off. Don’t believe me? Google it. These days simple knowledge ain’t rocket science…if of course you’re open to learning.
Proven reserves methodology hinges on oil recoverable from older techs. For instance oil recovered from shale oil is not counted but Israel has lots…
http://quitenormal.wordpress.com/2011/03/12/new-data-israel-may-have-3rd-largest-deposit-of-oil-shale-in-the-world/
He presented data that our oil shale reserves are actually the equivalent of 250 billion barrels (that compares with 260 billion barrels in the proven reserves of Saudi Arabia).
http://www.energyandcapital.com/articles/huge-oil-and-gas-discovery/1253
http://www.investorplace.com/2011/04/israel-shale-oil-leviathan-field-crude/
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/139163#.UC7Rg6NhRI0
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011/0106/Israel-giddy-over-new-offshore-gas-find
Definition: Proven reserves
Proved reserves
Although there is no single, commonly accepted technical definition of proved reserves, a commonly used description is as follows: “the estimated quantities of oil which geological and engineering data demonstrate with reasonable certainty to be recoverable in future years from known reservoirs under current economic and operating conditions”.
If they don’t count shale oil recovery on your list of current “operating conditions” they don’t count what is in the ground.
Nicely done!!! kudos…but don’t forget the fast pace of ending fuel oil as a way of heating homes, businesses, etc. and replacing it with natural gas…..oil burner dealers will be extinct in ten years and that lessens the demand for this fossil fuel.
Maine can convert wood and other organic waste to natural gas to keep those gas pipelines filled; giving us a major renewable and long term sustainability.
Proven oil reserves in the United States are 21 billion barrels (3.3×109 m3), excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The Institute for Energy Research estimates the total volume of technically recoverable oil reserves in all areas of the United States
(including technically recoverable oil from shale) to be 1.442 trillion barrels of oil.
Hopefully you are open to learning from a novice.
You just proved my point that, See you are waiting for technology to do something about it instead of trying to get something done now.
I am not sure what you mean. Getting something done now. Denying that the oil is not there certainly isn’t a solution because obviously the oil is there.
Thanks again. More oil is never a solution. Fossil fuels are not a solution but temporary reprieve.
ok but its at a minimum a 200 year reprieve. There is a reason that China is running around the globe buying up resources still in the ground, even in the US.
so not a solution. We can give our selves a 200 year advantage if we spend the money and invest, but no. We are going to wait until we are in dire straights because that is the only way things like this happen. The environment is core to our economic survival. So is getting our self off fossil fuels. Yet we just seem content with waiting it out.
I see what you mean. I’m sorry I missed your point the first time. We know that nuclear power is out for obvious reasons. We know that hydro is out because of environmental concerns. We know that it takes a wind farm the size of Connecticut to power NYC. An even bigger farm for solar panels. Tidal generators are a cool idea but what about the ocean environment? I guess I am not sure where the research dollars should go. My best guess would be to find ways to make current proven existing technology cleaner and more efficient. There is always research on the sidelines doing what it does. It does not make sense to me to shutter or not make more efficient existing technologies in order to speed up research in something that may or may not work.
I don’t know where to put the money either, but I feel that we have to start to do something. Yes making our current energy sources more eficent will help. Fossil fuels are not going anywhere soon, we have to start to use them smarter, I think that we need to start focusing on moving away from them more then focusing on making them more efficient, but like you said what do we focus on? wind? solar? tidal? other means? The infrastructure is there to build on when it comes to fossil fuels, we need to start building that infrastructure for renewable sources, but I will leave it to the experts to figure out which ones, not the guys rooting for the one that is best for the environment, but which is best for us.
In the meantime high energy costs are forcing us to spend more to heat our homes, more at the pump to get to work. It is contributing to continuing high unemployment. I know that hundreds of thousand could be put to work in the energy field in a few short months if the government allowed it.
I think you should talk with someone who installs natural gas heating & cooking systems; since it appears you are unaware of the cost savings from switching to gas….and while you’re at it, check out Honda’s CNG cars and the gas compressors you can install in your garage to fill your tank should you switch to natural gas.
Wind is a waste of tax money, much better to invest it in health care esp. since Gov. Lepage is close to announcing ten yr. contract with Quebec Hydro for 10 cents/ KwH.
Yet the libs in Maine refuse to let us build more clean, cheap, reliable hydro and instead are tearing out dams as fast as they can. They really do not want power that is cheap or reliable. The goal is to depopulate Maine.
I have to agree with you on Hydropower!”
It’s clean effecient and reliable!
Also extremely devastating to the environment, it can even change the local climate in the surronding area.
A would hate to point this out but you are changing the environment when you awoke this morning.
Actually I did not change the environment when I woke up yesterday. I neither added nor subtracted any Oxygen, Nitrogen or Carbon Dioxide.
I did not add or take away any water from the environment and I did not add any contaminants to the environment.
Living organisms work in harmony with the environment unlike man made objects.
Let’s see how well you weather a drought without the water stored behind Maine’s thousands of dams; or how well your community weathers the flooding from heavy rains without the dams to slow down the runoff.
Want devastation?
Check out the clear cuts, access roads and miles of transmission lines for the subsidized wind farms running wind turbines with 10 year warranties.
Where do you get the impression that the “Libs” tore out the dams. There are many of us who support hydro power and hate to see the dams destroyed.
Blame it on the Libs? Plenty of fishermen teapublicans behind the razing of dams.
Too much blaming and labeling.
Don’t fall for this that fossil fuels are going away. We have all kinds of options on the table. NRCM, Restore North Woods, UMAINE and other liberal envrionmental groups want only 1 option that is wind. It is not sustainable as we have seen and it destroys good areas causing property taxes to rise. We need to bring back all options like Hydro, Nuclear , Natural Gas Power Plants (Central Maine), Clean Coal, BioMass anything that generates power should be looked at. The left will fight everything on the basis we have to be green. Don’t fall for it. Folks need to look at the education on these issues .
When folks like NRCM, Johnathan Carter come in and try to muddy the water look how good these folks have made out on our expense. They will go away when folks fight back and win. The People need to win that is how our state will grow. We need to stop these Liberal Special Interest because they are just like lobbyist only looking out for them.
Your inflammable tea party rhetoric lacks credence. You speak of liberals like a kid being told to eat his broccoli.
Liberals think differently than you – that’s all. Your inability to converse and accept another viewpoint defines a streak of authoritarianism like one advocating totalitarianism. Republicans and – I suspect – tea party people enjoy fishing so much they call for the demise of all dams. Your over emphasis of topics is almost suffocating.
Energy blogs and technical sources are filled with rosy forecasts of hundreds of years of natural gas reserves, with more being discovered every day.
If you enjoy fishing and see fish as a food source why remove a dam with its enormous water habitat for a stream which dries up in the summer killing off edible fish?
Oh – for God’s sake oldmainer, try to cut through your tea party haze of libber dibber do.
Liberals do not have one thought. We’re all different. Some support hydro and windmills. For others, it’s the other way around.
Koch lock stepped tea party clan strictly adhere to the Koch manifesto.
Suppress the rights of those voters who lean to the left. This especially applies to communities where black and Latinos reside. Force compliance nationwide eliminating registration on election day. Push restrictive legislation forcing older drivers who are more apt to vote to the left, off the highways. Initiate regular irritating tests . Charge all voters $25 for a voter ID card. Many voters and especially older people will forego voting if forced to pay $25.
Total Tea Party Control of your mind, too.
Ayn Rand was a fascist and a crazy person.
Who told you that?
After Ayn Rand spent evey last dime that she ever made in her quest for self gratification she retired on————-Social Security!
Do some research and you will come to the same conclussion.
After reading your post, I shrugged
LOL
LePug is the best argument for voting Democrat! They should give him a big kiss for all his help.
And birth control.
He is a horse’s behind. Didn’t any1 ever tell him that if you tell 1 person a secret, it is no longer a secret? He didn’t tell 1 person his secret but a whole room of people. Maybe Dorothy Dix can prepare a private room for him.
He has fixed nothing in two years. Unemployment is up under is dopey regime while it is down in blue states. His business model is a bust but he and is family have added pounds and inches to their bottom lines.
Conservatives try and solve problems? Conservatives yell about welfare, but do not want to make it easier to have abortions. Allowing unwanted babies to be aborted would ease welfare more then any laws could, and lower our crime rate drastically.
But Mr Bully is not a Republican, or, Conservative. He is a Tea Party regular eased into the governorship by the Koch golden shoe horn. He is pledged to carry out the Tea Party Manifesto.
As a taxpaying Liberal voter with a validated birth certificate and an honorable discharge, I along with others, who can see through his thin tea party veneer, will vote to replace all republicans in November. The taint of tea – stained politics has fogged up the country.He is an inspiration to many. I wonder which one of his infamous quotes they treasure the most: Kissa my butt , or, “I’ll close the schools.”
No self respecting republican or Democrat would ever lower themselves to utter such tripe.
We all know that the conservatives love to spend money liberally, so now, Paul LaPudge wants to spend $35,000.00 to bring the Legislature back for a special session, to prove some political point, at the expense of the tax payers. If he was as thrifty as he says he is, he’d get his foolishness over during the scheduled session in September.
yeeeaaahhh, it was all about debt to hospitals. Riiiiggghhht! Hand it to you Paulie, you got one hell of a damage control team!
Hope Emily Cain didn’t buy LePage’s line about not having a special session. He is a liar and you can’t trust him.
A “really” good damage control team would simply come in right now with push brooms and shop-vacs to completely clean up the mess called Paul from whatever spot he’s currently squatting in.
I have my doubts this was all the secrecy was about. It sounds too innocent a reason to have talked about keeping this under wraps. Unless, as someone else has stated, it is how he would go about dealing with the issue that would be controversial.
He will go for photo I.D. got a letter from maine ‘will not help pay for ambunlane [wrong spelling] service also from a Bangor sevice wants 1200.00$$ for bringing my husbandhome after a brein damage I didn’t ask for them but it was the only way to take him to a nusing home they will to take me to court they all got a case of $$$$$$$$eyes
Ya know, someday soon, just-ah-maybe, it is going to dawn on the Great Gov, just what his job is. Forty years ago a young family could afford to buy BC/BS on their own and have their children and never even had a thought about State help. Their was some surplus government food, no food stamps, for people in need, but very few need much. In today’s world unless you have BC/BS at a job, young families cannot afford it, but, their are still kids who need care. The biggest job of the Great Gov is to find, I mean be creative, find ways to fund our budget in Maine, it is not really that bad or high, it is time the Fed began supporting the States, instead of rebuilding half the world. It is the Feds drying up of money to the States, that has caused so many problems. The Governor’s job is to look out for the well being of the States people within reason, and see to it, that we have some opportunities. Reach out to the smart people of Maine, pls leave the tea pot home, just think Maine, how do we fund our meager budget.
And all of that happened under 40 years of Dem rule in Maine. You do understand when the Feds support a state, like they do in Maine, that some other state is paying to support Maine right?
What’s your point?
What?? What you say does not hold water or make any sense Sir.
It only doesn’t make sense if you believe that the Feds have a money fairy and that all of our problems can be solved by getting more from the money fairy. The Feds get their money from the states. For a state like Maine to get more than it pays in taxes means that some other state has to pay more than it gets back. Maine…the welfare state.
The Fed collects income tax from all citizens of the US, not from the State. Income tax was little know prior to WW2, we collected the Federal operating money from trade and tariffs. The Fed cuts spending to all States on certain things, unfunded mandates and such. They do this, while increasing our worldwide spending. The US tosses billions all over the globe, and what I am saying, is charity begins at home. I feel our Senators had better gets some gusto, and see that our states have equal and proper funding before we toss our peoples income tax money all over the globe.
China is our money fairy and that is a large and looming worry to a whole lot of people,and again, I do not think there is any damn need of the US borrowing so much money, if we could just keep our noses out of other people problems and take care of the people of the US. If the US is not strong within, it will not be strong globally.
What’s your point? You’ve offered no solution. You’ve just whined about ‘dems’. Where were the ‘reps’ all this time? 40 years of “Dem rule in Maine”? You obviously drink too much.
Don;t you get tired of being wrong? I don’t drink at all. The Maine people got what they deserved with 40 years of Dem rule. Do I need to post all of the misdeeds of the failed Baldacci administration again?
You don’t drink? Then you have no excuse at all. :-)
What’s your excuse for supporting the Maine Dems? They have mismanaged our government, run our businesses and our young people out of the state, attracted a bunch of welfare cases, and left us with the unpaid bills. You are the problem. ;^)
It must have been what the people wanted. They voted the government in. I guess you’re basically saying that during this whole time, the reps were basically ineffectual and rather useless.
What the heck is this 40 year buisness of Democrat “RULE” all about?
Just because the Republicans have been asleep at the wheel while in office doesn’t mean that Democrats RULED!
Democrats don’t operate as a “Singular Entity” !
( One Ring to Rule them all and In the Darkness Bind Them!)
Thats a Republican Thing!
LOL
Sure, they could use the AG’s personal piggy bank, the SETTLEMENT ACCOUNT Schneider has used to pay for his trips to DC and his fabulous picnic for his brown nose crew.
The Settlement Account is ripe for robbing, no one at the AG’s office will actually say how much is in it. Funny, after BN’s column in PPH I called the guv’s office to question the use of this account and suddenly, Frenchy found some money to pay off the hospitals…just saying, maybe it pays to have a big mouth.
I really doubt there is $460 million in the Settlement Account.
The word is the Democrats are really going to hate this so that can’t be it.
I quiver with anticipation at the demise of the entitlement state in order to pay the money we owe. A fair trade by my estimation.
So, you stand to make money off of this?
As a taxpayer that lives in a more fiscally responsible state. Yes and so do you.
Ah, another ‘legal’ entitlement therefore, it’s ok to eat at the trough.
I guess I miss your point, but if the State pays its bills how is that “eating at the trough”?
This doesn’t fit with his statement that what he wants to do has been done in “other Republican states”. I suspect this is more likely something they were working on for the next session and have now trotted it out now as cover for whatever wacko plan he was hinting about in Bangor.
BINGO!
Paul LePage has got to be the biggest wing nut that has ever occupied the Blaine House! Does the man know if he’s coming or going? Sure seems to look as though he doesn’t know his “un-kissable” from his elbow.
This sounds a lot like the little kid who is about to put a cookie he was told to stay away from in his mouth just when his mother walks in the room. “Mommy ” he says holding out the cookie towards her, “I got this for you”. While I agree we as a State should pay our bills this doesn’t seem to fall into the emergency category. And the soap opera continues. Stay tuned for our next exciting episode.
If you could make a deal get huge debt off of the state’s books and get something done that King and Baldacci couldn’t do. Your telling us you would rather have this state put it off and continue racking up debts like Democrats did when they ran the show. That is why the state is near or at the bottom of everything. Because Liberals would rather continue to not make the tough decisions that Maine needs to do to get out of this mess. They instead would rather have things continue to fall apart which makes things cost more to fix and costing us more money which we don’t have.
But why spemd the extra money for a ‘special” session when this can be easily done in January?There’s more on his plate that just this ,I’m sure.
Hardly a reason to recall lawmakers to a “special session” that will cost a ton of money. This is something he could and should have done during the regular budget session, but he was too busy telling us how poor we were and that we couldn’t afford to maintain heathcare assistence for thousands of people. I guess this confirms he was lying, yet again.
Well angry here’s the problem as I see it. I didn’t write Maine’s Constitution so I can only go by what it says. I am sure as a supporter of LePage you are all for whatever it was he was talking about the other night in the Bangor bar with a bunch of his drinking buddies. Now I don’t spend much time in bars but remembering back to my younger days when I did there always seemed to be a loudmouthed obnoxious drunk around that would do or say something stupid just to get attention. Now I don’t know if that is what happened in the Bangor bar with LePage or not. But I have heard the terms loudmouthed and obnoxious used when referring to Mr. LePage. I have even heard others say that he was known to frequent a bar in Waterville and drank too much . As far as his truthfulness is concerned: Based on the number of times Mr. LePage has been caught in lies I personally wouldn’t put a lot of faith into what he says, but that is just my opinion. If you want to believe things that a proven liar says that is up to you.
What I don’t like is Democrats refusing to be accountable for the mess they created. They need to man up and accept they were the ones responsible for the failed policies that put Maine where its at. They need to realize that making the hard decisions is what Maine needs right now. Continuing to put things off and then not do anything and blame everyone for not getting the mess cleaned up is no longer acceptable. Yes folks get hurt but in my opinion making the decisions that is unpopular usually tend to be the right decisions. Nobody should be in office to make folks happy its not a popularity contest. We have serious problems here in Maine we have high taxes, a huge welfare and dhhs problem, we have infrastructure that is crumbling including roads/bridges that are damaging cars. We have no real east-west highways to transport goods, our railroads are being taken apart for nature trails. Our schools are a mess too. I just want Democrats to start accepting the fact they did things wrong and knew that this spending would not be sustainable. I also want Democrats to accept that returning to a massive expansion of their failed socialist policies isn’t going to fly with most folks either.
Why can’t the governor make folks happy? He’s too busy bullying everyone. It’s a good job the governor isn’t elected based on popularity – this one would have to go back to Jamaica, or, Canada. He has no personality.
Contrary to all of his and his tea party brainwashed pals, schools are not failing, only in Le Page’s tea party script – borrowed from Walker and co. We are all not fat and lazy. Not even us liberals who work, fight for the country, and believe we live in the best state of the union. Not even Le Page’s reign will change it.
The crumbling of roads and bridges is due to the bully holding back on the application of federal and state funds to twists and the creaks out of the roadways.
The northern railroad was reported to been moving along just fine in the newspaper. Read it. Amtrac is moving slowly northward.
For the past 40 years that East-West Highway has been kicked around and kicked around, with Canadians pushing the hardest. It kept failing to get passed because we had some sensible legislators who could see the folly of such a move.
Democrats are no different than republicans -we (if I may say that) – are human and make mistakes. The past 40 years was not totally governed by democrats. Check the listing of governors and house and senate majorities. Check also the legislators behind legislation.
All Le Page has done is curse everyone and try to make the State of Maine look like a dump. He is not a republican. He is a member of the Tea Party aristocracy – Plutocracy. The rich for the rich – be damned to the working people.
I think the first thing you need to recognize is that the people who were in the legislature and the Governors office were put there by the voters of Maine. Think about this for a minute, if you were working and not making enough money to pay your bills would you go to your employer and ask him to cut your pay? That is pretty much what this legislature did, they cut taxes first and then LePage declared a crisis of not having enough money to pay the bills. Wouldn’t it have made more sense to cut back in programs, keep the tax rate the same at least until all the bills were paid and then cut taxes? Just reading what you have posted makes it seem as if you have bought into the radical right tea party myth that if you cut taxes enough everything will get all better. It won’t. Just like the guy that isn’t making enough to pay his bills won’t solve his problem by making less the State will not solve their problems by taking in less revenue until after they have cut back on programs and State expenses.
I don’t know what LePage does on his personal time its none of my business. What I do know is all of us are seeing our tax bills, utility bills, fuel costs, groceries etc. all continue to go up. While we get awful services including things we don’t want to pay for continuing to get priority. Instead of doing what we used to do is have the budget be a real stimulus. Where most of the budget was put to things like growing jobs like transportation with 25 to 40+ % of the money spent on infrastructure. With now no money spent on jobs with 100% of the budget spent of things like Welfare, Buying land for Enviros, subsidizing certain Liberal Lobbyist and Special Interest. With these Enviros , Special Interest claiming tax exemptions and not paying taxes for years. Where is the outrage in that.
The return of the angry darkcat33 ……
Get the Liberal tirade out of your system. As a proud Liberal I work and pay my taxes. I served the country. I’m no different than a lot of people who live here, who have done the same.
The major, but not insurmountable difference is – I have a different point of view.
Le Page lost his privacy when he slipped on the Koch collar and became “governor.”
Like Le Page you constantly hurl contempt at fellow Mainers who have not been as fortunate as you. Or, feel free to speak outside the rim of a tea cup.
One day, for your own edification you might be shocked to find lobbyists and special interest people are not solely confined to the “Liberal” category.
What you never consider are the obscene tax breaks afforded multi millionaires and giant corporations with their offshore interests.
Your current heroes Rom & Rye are hiding their earnings, probably ashamed to cheer them of the millions they make each month.
What he says today, does not match what he said at the Sea Dog Brewery. But then, isn’t this typical Le Page? Mouth off. Call Adrienne.
Attempting to soup up “divisiveness ” among Democrats was the weakest excuse for a special session. But that’s what this “tough” Wizard of Id told his half soaked pals.
When tough decisions are needed, Le Page hides. Note the current Lobster Blockade. Not one of his usual “niceties” to his Canuck buddies. The Bully hid somewhere in the Blaine House as our truck drivers were booed and escorted back to the Canadian border by the RCMP – a shameful police escort. Le Page should be ashamed.
Blame the Libs all you want. Angus, John, Ken, and all the others would have been kicking down the New Brunswick Premier’s front door and demanding him to lay-off.
Bully boy tells everyone to go to hell and then jumps behind Adrienne: Go tell ’em I didn’t mean it.” His only “tough” decisions have been to hit the poor, the unemployed, teachers, students, fire fighters, state workers – just about anyone of the 1.5 million who call themselves Mainers.
Where were all you tough, rugged republicans when these “Liberals” were kicking your butt?
Libber, libber, lib a lib do. You mean to say the Republicans sat on their hands and kept their mouths shut for 40 years?
Get off the tea party tirade. Tell us what your magnificent ruler has done for this state.
Just one item will suffice.
It’s nice to know that we have a governor that wants to talk about the deficit spending that the King and Baldacci administration left behind. And make no mistake about it, it is deficit spending. It’s also nice to see the usual kids posting idiotic comments about LePage which is really what we need to get things done.
Businesses take out loans and run in the red all the time. It’s how they eventually get ahead.
Businesses that run in the red all of the time fail. The State of Maine is required to balance its budget each and every year. Not paying your bills is not balancing the budget. It’s called deficit spending.
Pisst…we’re in a recession (caused by the “Haves” who due to it now have more). Lots of States, businesses and just plain people are in the red right now, it’s called trying to survive the needs of the Haves. Change it by voting wisely in November.
Don’t tell Obama we are in a recession. He would say we are in a recovery.
Which Reagan did a lot of.
Deficit spending is “Cutting Taxes” when we haven’t paid the bills!
You guys think we need a Buisnessman to run the State but what Buisnessman in his right mind would close the doors to buisness and reduce his revenue as his very first move ?
There is nothing “buisnesslike” with this drone he is just a hatchet man tring to steal as much from the system as he can for his corporate wealthy masters!
Well Democrats have put a priority where nearly 90% of Maine’s budget was spent on Welfare/DHHS and a Failed Education System that refuses to accept overhauls. Where has it gotten this state under Democrats . Maine under Democrats they were ranked 50th economically, top 5 or 10 states in taxes , 27th in Education and going downward, #2 in the country of folks on WELFARE and a budget deficit they refuse to do anything about. Is that acceptable does Maine folks really want a state that is heading to total socialism where everyone ends up in poverty on the dole and with Augusta holding their hands in a Nanny State. The Maine voters have spoken clearly the last few years that the status quo of Democrats is no longer acceptable. They voted for the best candidate of the 81% that voted against the Democrat Agenda. They also wanted a Republican Legislature that isn’t afraid to make the cuts that we want. That isn’t going to sit their and feel sorry for folks when they make their yearly trip during budget time crying that they are being hurt. No offense Dlbrt Democrats can’t claim they are having our backs anymore because their record of votes on Maine Business says otherwise. Their votes, their MERI ratings on business and their interest show they have contempt for the working citizen in Maine.
They have done everything to hurt them while feeding the pockets of those tied to Democrats in Augusta. So Mainers who voted for LePage and Republicans we love what he has done for us because he is someone who has our backs for once. Someone who will actually do the job they were elected by Mainers to do and that is cut government and welfare programs while getting taxes under control.
The Maine voters have spoken? With a lot less then half the voters voting for the Govenor, your statement is absurd. We will see how the voters feel this election, I think you will have to change your story.
Your statements goes with what I have been thinking. Whatever his plan was, I think that LePage knows he won’t have the votes in Augusta after the election to get it done. He fears losing his majority, and knows without his majority whatever it was that he wants, won’t pass in January under a Democrat House and Senate.
No, more then likely it will just be another name change for that poster.
Emily Cain??
Does anyone even listen to what comes out her face?
more so than what comes out of the penguin’s beak….
She has a warm pleasant face. Emily is not afraid to tackle Mr Bumble, as she did over his latest Vesuvius eruption.
Anger clouds the mind!
Socialism? Scheesh! It gets more like socialism and totalitarism with Le Page and his flighty tea party agenda. Get over it. He’s not for Maine. He is an employee of the Tea Party Clan, created and paid for the Koch brothers.
You blame us for what happened over the past 40 years. Then you praise Le Page for undoing everything we did.
Check it out.
If Elliot Cutler hadnt dropped out,Paul Lepage wouldnt be Governor.
Wow.
It would be hard to find the working people of Maine opposed to each other, as your statement indicates. Your narrow definition of the working class implies that Democrats and Liberals are not. Surely, you’re not tea warped into believing and sharing the Le Page-Koch acrimony?
Deficit spending is spending money that you do not have and are unable to pay back. Maine has owed the money to hospitals for several years. How would you like to have a business where you provided services, paid your employees and then billed the State of Maine only to find that they cannot pay?
I wouln’t like it!
I would like it even less if those who owed me money made pledges to quit their job, effectivly reducing their income that would enable them to pay me what they owe!
That is exactly what Lepage an the Tea Party have done!
Enacting the Biggest Tax Cuts in the History of Maine While you owe milions in bills to Hostpitals is Akin to te average citizen quitting his job when he has thousands on Credit Card Debt!
It is pure Ignorance!
We have bills we need to pay, we need to get it done!
This Tea Party stupid ideology of “ME ” first has got to end!
So nice to see the usual kids posting…well “I” can’t attack another poster personally as that’s against the rules here…comments defending the lunacy of LePage.
What did the AG’s office tell the Associated Press today about Mr. LePage’s claim of having him check on the legality of…(Paying hospitals???)…ahh, “we don’t have any documentation relating to that subject.” What? Could LePage have been stretching the truth beyond believability again? Looks like a good possibility. Old habits really do die hard.
Who you callin’ a kid?
Nice to be called a kid. As one kind to another – I think Le Page is the worst governor this state has ever seen, and will likely see in the future.
Count me as 180 degrees from you.
We’re getting 360 degree feedback about Le Page.
LePage is a bully,has been proved over and over to be a liar,and he has no leadership skills.You can say they are ”childish”,idiotic comments,but that just puts you in the same catagory.Diasagree and get insuted and bullied.Thats LePage style Governing.
Using liquor sales to go to State hospitals…. I’ll drink to that!
I agree this isn’t it, although it’s a lot of money to cut from somewhere else, which could be labor (like other Republican states), public health (like other Republican states), or even education (yes, just like ORS). But here’s the thing – its not just hospitals that are owed MaineCare payments – it’s ALL providers. Take that number and add again another $1oo million, at the very least. The hospitals just whine louder, have more political capital and their former lobbyist as the Commish.
Long over-do discussion and final closure in regards to re-pymt of these monies to our state’s hospitals…..git-er-done…..
No matter what Gov. LePage has planned, if it involves legislation, then legislators will likely demand a public hearing on it. This will not be a one day event.
Lepage is
clearly lying. AGAIN.
What difference
does it make to anyone what accounting gimmicks they use to pay the state
obligations?
The Legislature
will have to balance they budget one way or the other. If this was such a big
issue to Lepage he could have addressed in his bloated two year budget or at
any number scheduled budget meetings.
LePage seems to be overly concerned about the hospitals. I wonder why.
Then why was the potential for a special session a secret shared only with his closest fellow Republicans. This isn’t passing the straight face test but what does with this administration?
Shot down my theory and I’m always right.
That isn’t it but how real is the debt to hospitals anyway? Has there ever been a comprehensive audit? Since hospitals can raise their rates to offset unpaid bills, how do we know that some of this debt hasn’t already been covered? Since the state is responsible for only 1/3 of the $460Million, with the balance coming from the Feds, does it have a real incentive to verify the numbers? Afterall, $300Million coming into the state in the form of federal funds would not be a bad thing given the current economy.
Let me explain how this works. Someone on Mainecare gets sick, they go to the hospital,and receive care. Are you following so far? The hospital sends the bill to the State.Now the State has a stack of bills owed to the hospitals totaling $460 million. You don’t need an audit, you add them up. Unfortunately the check book is empty!
Just a reminder that in 2010 then candidate LePage promised, when Paul is Governor, open government will be a reality, not a talking point.
I agree with Gov. LePage. I try to avoid getting sick during a state downturn in revenues. If more people just said ‘no’ to cancer, or quietly walked into the woods and died instead of seeking treatment, this stuff wouldn’t happen.
Why couldn’t they address this huge matter when the legislature was in session? Surely, the governor knew this isn’t the sort of thing you can sweep under the rug and hope it goes away.
Because he is almost as transparent as Obama said he would be.
off subject, cease and desist:)
I don’t believe him. His statements were purely political (something that would aggravate Democrats, something that other Republican states have done) and this issue of hospital debt is more apolitical.
That would depend on how it is funded.
Censorship in Governor LePage’s Maine Cheesecake? I though the Koch brothers claimed to be Libertarians?
Did you know a UNICEF/WHO report says 97% of urban and 79% of rural Iraqis had access to free health care until the first Gulf war?
[PDF]
Did you know indeed .com says the average salary for a doctor in Maine is $100,000?
Luke 5:24 says Jesus just told the ex-paralytic to pick up his bed and go home.
What censorship are you speaking about? I oppose all forms of censorship…. clarify please.
On the menu tonight for Mike Tipping and Emily Cain – crow. Eat it like hot wings.
They’re our heros. They should be congratulated.
They’re YOUR heros!
Go Gov Go. Kick um where it hurts. We behind you .
The smell from behind, not for me:)
A “secret plan”? He seems to have secret plans and secret admirers who send him unsigned faxes. This emperor has no clothes.
that comment makes me visualize something that isn’t pretty
Whats wrong with paying our bills?
Absolutely nothing……
So the big secret is, we as citizens can pay off the Maine-care debt by drinking? What about smoking and junk food, is that next? Maybe the Gov. should enact a 4 day workweek in Maine and the state can get out of debt by folks partying every weekend.
This doesn’t really pass the straight-face test. How would this make the Democrats furious? Why is it so controversial he thinks he couldn’t get it passed by the *next* legislature?
Wow!
This little anouncement sure got the democrat knickers in a twist.
There’s a sneaky little man in Augusta with a secret plan to make Emily Cain really mad.
He’s going to use the Baldacci tactic to sell tomorrow’s liquor tax money to balance today’s budget!
I bet all the goobers will think that is just soooo special!
Soooo, WHY was this ever a secret?
Liquor revenues to hospitals? Secret? Um ok.
It makes no sense. The Governor could have easily disclosed this to the ultra-loyal audience he was talking to.
This smells.
It’s most likely an ” I got caught” CYA story.
After all the lies this clown has told, if he told me it was raining, I would have to go outside to see for myself. A man that lies has no integrity and a man who has no integrity has nothing!
This does not pass the straight face test. I fail to understand why the reporters do not confront Le Page and his spokespeople about his constant lies.
Because he tells them he’ll punch them in the nose?
Before liquor privatization about $28 million A YEAR went to the general fund. In 8 years of privatization only a TOTAL of $54 million has gone to the general fund which is $6.75 million A YEAR.
I emailed the bureau of alcoholic beverages earlier this year I asked how much money has gone into the general fund in 8 years. Their response:
“Roughly, $40 million dollars from sales. Also, approximately $14 million has been collected for premium taxes on distilled spirits.”
From what I see the state lost about $170 million in revenue in 8 years. They also lost their shirt.
Don’t post facts about the former Gov. on this board they will simply tell you that LePage has had two years and done nothing to correct it. It’s only $170 million, come on!
ok why is it such a big secret and why would democrats be “wow” against it?? I don’t get this clown.
He wants to pay the state’s bills! He should be impeached.
Jake doesn’t exactly conjure up the Image of an Intellectual!
LOL
Don’t forget his charity toward family members. At least he’s willing to share his plunder with someone. Helping others, like your average Mainer, well not so much. What a guy to have in charge, eh?
LePage must think he’s on the Midway at one of the Fairs. Playing his shell game again.
can you spell tax increase there seems to be no other way to get the 153 million.unless the gov and lawmakers are planning to take a cut in perks and bennies,just cutting the family members,lawmakers companies that do business with the state and of course we could raise tolls and gain some more after we take out for raises and gift cards.Go gov.
Insisting on lumping all individuals together into groups, gives that much more power to the people who hold it. I might be called a “liberal,” or, perish the thought, a “greenie,” but I’ve seen the windpower scam for what it is from the onset. Polarizing the public with labels is a brilliant, yet sophomoric tactic, which far too people happily fall prey to, because it’s easier than taking on the tough work of analysis.
It’s a red herring. This is not about paying hospitals. This is going to be something that will upset a lot of people and I’m sure that it’s also going to screw over a lot of people in the process. Why else would he be keeping mum about it? Paying the hospital bills does not warrant a “super secret” emergency session.
soon,there will be no maine republican majority in maine, soon
I can see why he would have to keep it secret, the Dems have ruled maine for about 40 years racking up all sorts of bills for their socialist utopia (broke welfare state) that they had no way to pay for. The last thing they would want is this republican governor to show them how to pay the bills they themselves created.
Well, that doesn’t make any sense. From your description it would be the Democrats who would want secrecy. Governor LePage and the Republicans would be driving down every Main Street in Maine with bullhorns.
This is pushing the envelope? Sounds like they changed their story.
There is no story, only a story made up from people from the left.. Time to move on, nothing to see here folks… You have another 5 yrs plus with Mr. LePage, you better get use too it young lady…
Can you say “red herring”? This is absolutely not what LePuke was alluding to at the Sea Dog. If you believe that this is an issue that would set the Democrats off, you are totally deluded. This does not have the urgency that would require a special session. Also, why would LePuke have to ask the AG if it was ok to have a special session to pay a bill? Doesn’t he know at least that much about government? Transparency – my a–!
I believe his name is LePage.
Was you at the Sea Dog at the time….I bet not.. Time to move on..
He should go after collective bargaining and get that out of the way also. That is costing the taxpayers far too much.
Wow, he wants to hold a session on paying bills… Good man…Now all the busy bodies know what he was up to..
Maybe he’s going to repudiate the odious debt. Or open the OTHER checkbook, the bottomless one that we hear about all over the Internet, but not in the BDN. Hint: it starts
with C..and ends with R.. That would definitely knot some knickers!!!